I think we got "in like a lion" here. About an inch of snow that fell in small skiffs over about 30 hours, starting after midnight on Thursday morning and finally clearing up early Friday, followed by strong winds overnight Friday and much of today. Supposed to get downright nice in the week ahead, though.

(Seriously. Higher average temperatures means more energy in the system, which means more volatility, which means unseasonable and otherwise chaotic weather - of all types.)

Actually this statement is not correct at all. In fact, from a pure potential energy standpoint, this winter was one of the weakest in many years, and even though we were grossly warmer than average across the CONUS, potential energy was well below an average season. Baroclinic energy is much more reliant on cold, arctic air than warm anomalies.

just brew it! wrote:I agree that could be the cause... but until it happens several years in a row, we can't tell whether it is indeed a real trend or just a statistical fluke.

I'd argue that we have been seeing it, in varying forms, for at least the past couple of years - the "Snowpocalypse" on the US east coast being the first time I paid conscious attention to it as a significant factor. Admittedly, however, that's not remotely concrete yet; at best, it's anecdotal evidence, until someone does a comprehensive study of the subject.

just brew it! wrote:I'll stop here, in an attempt not to push this thread over the R&P line...

Yeah... I wasn't even sure it was a good idea to make the comment in the first place, but in the end I went ahead with it.

I'd actually be interested in discussing the question in something resembling a calm and rational fashion, but I don't 'subscribe' to the R&P forum, because I know many of the topics discussed there would get me hot under the collar and emotionally stressed with no real benefit - and I'd have a hard time keeping out of them if I actually had the ability to drop in and look at them on a whim. So there's probably no good place for it.

Extreme weather has been happening since the dawn of time, but the media "hypes" big weather events much more now than before. If you look at statistical trends over decades, major weather events have not increased at all. Nor'easters, such as Snowpocalypse, was nothing unusual in the long term climate period. Boxing Day Blizzard 2010...same thing.

The Swamp wrote:It's been very hot here, getting into the 80s every day. And it's been that way for weeks.

This is the hottest winter I have ever seen. It does not bode well for hurricane season. The Gulf is going to be boiling by July.

This comment is not correct, in fact, ACE (Accumulated Potential Energy) across much of the Atlantic Basin has been in a relative minimum for a number of years after the record breaking 2005 hurricane season. The ocean-atmosphere relationship is extremely complex...much more than just simple relationships regarding overall temperature anomalies across the CONUS.http://policlimate.com/tropical/http://policlimate.com/tropical/maue_grl_2011.pdf

Hurricane activity is also highly dependent (across the Atlantic Basin) on easterly tropical waves originating from the African continent, and that itself is a major topic in atmospheric research, and it is highly variable season to season.

First snow in DC this year, after the first two days that were cold, in the 20's. Nothing stuck on the roads, but there's a nice white blanket on everything else. An excuse for me to wear my Tims to work!

If you live in an area where it really snows, like in the midwest where 3 feet of snow and ice are common, is it just a given that snow gets cancelled, or are 'ya'll so used to it that you ignore snow unless it's over 10' deep?

FireGryphon wrote:If you live in an area where it really snows, like in the midwest where 3 feet of snow and ice are common, is it just a given that snow gets cancelled, or are 'ya'll so used to it that you ignore snow unless it's over 10' deep?

When I was younger (i.e. back in the Jimmuh Carter days) our schools never closed for snow because there was no busing of students. These days snow-related school closing decisions appear to be made by the school district's liability insurer, at least from my POV.

Straight snow rarely closes schools here. The first threat of ice, though, will provoke pre-emptive closings the day before.

My wife and her 2 immediate siblings (one older, one younger) rode a school bus that rolled over due to ice and all 3 got whatever cash settlements went for back around 1976 or so.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

I was interested to notice that on my way home last night (at around 23:00), the snow was beginning to stick on the roads to the point where I had to watch carefully to make sure I wasn't drifting out of the lane, but nothing was visibly sticking anywhere else yet. Just the opposite of what I'd have expected from normal principles, and of what you describe (though I'm a bit further south than DC itself).

FireGryphon wrote:First snow in DC this year, after the first two days that were cold, in the 20's. Nothing stuck on the roads, but there's a nice white blanket on everything else. An excuse for me to wear my Tims to work!

A bit further west in NOVA, we have snow sticking on the roads. There were some exciting moments this morning on the drive in to work. And the temperature was 11 degrees F yesterday morning. It's all that hot air from Congress that keeps the snow off your roads.

FireGryphon wrote:If you live in an area where it really snows, like in the midwest where 3 feet of snow and ice are common, is it just a given that [school] gets cancelled, or are 'ya'll so used to it that you ignore snow unless it's over 10' deep?

My understanding is that schools stay open. In areas that get more snowfall, the infrastructure is better at keeping the roads clear, the vehicles are more suited to the climate and the nature of the snow itself plays a factor. The DC area gets this heavy, wet, almost-melted snowfall that is harder to deal with than the fluffy stuff that falls when it get really cold.

Also, we don't get enough snow for the local population to get used to driving in it. Two flakes from the sky and half the drivers in this area creep along at 10 mph whilst the other half floor it in their Lexus SUV.

If there is one thing a remote-controlled, silent and unseeable surveillance/killing machine needs, it’s more whimsy. -- Marcus

60F with severe thunderstorms in the forecast today in the Chicago area. This after temperatures in the single digits (with below-zero nighttime lows) last week. We'll be back in the single digits and teens (with snow) by Thursday.

As the joke goes, "Don't like the weather here? Just wait a few hours, it'll be completely different!"

The years just pass like trains. I wave, but they don't slow down.-- Steven Wilson

just got out of a -50*F cold spell and returning to "Normal" -20's again, YAY! I'll have to post some pics/videos of the Ice Fog we get when we drop that low. Actually got one with 2 moose in my front yard .

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

Winter can't decide what it's doing around here. Half the time it's cold enough to turn standing water to ice, half the time it's warm enough to rain, and the other half it's in the 40's with gusty wind.

FireGryphon wrote:Winter can't decide what it's doing around here. Half the time it's cold enough to turn standing water to ice, half the time it's warm enough to rain, and the other half it's in the 40's with gusty wind.

Sounds pretty much like the weather here. 50 and rainy yesterday, dropped below freezing last night. Car door was iced shut this morning, and it never made it above freezing today. Right now it's 10 with gusty wind.

The years just pass like trains. I wave, but they don't slow down.-- Steven Wilson

Tuesday I went out on my deck and in the little nook where I'm out of the wind and facing the sun, I was quite comfortable sitting in shirt-sleeves (I even considered taking my shirt off to get enough VitD to avoid a pill). Two days later I'm bundled up in an down layer and can see my breath. And while we're getting just drizzle -- and not a flake of snow down here at sealevel all winter -- the mountains are getting another dump (20+ inches over the next couple of days, maybe as much as 50 on Rainier).

Looks like tonight is going to be a cold one! DC will be down in the single digits, with 20-40 mph winds to bring the windchill to ridiculous lows, at least for this area. My walk to work tomorrow will be 'cool'...